Built on smoke and mirrors

Chapter 7

I slept very little, so when Eydis started to move around out of bed the next morning, I was already up.

She was quiet as she got out of bed, collecting her things to leave.

"Morning," I said as I stretched.

She jumped as she turned to face me. "Morning Telvi. I thought you were asleep still. You don't have to be up for another hour."

"Why are you up then?"

In the dark of the room, I could see a pearly white smile on her face. "Want to come and find out?"

I got out from under the covers and nodded. There was a look so mischief in her eyes. It trapped me and I knew I couldn't escape them even if I tried.

"Great. Get yourself together. I want to leave at 10."

I scooped my clothes for the day in my hand, then scrambled after her. All I knew was I couldn't miss this opportunity.

"You know, my last roommate, she never wanted to do anything with me. I like you already, Telvi," Eydis said as she brushed her teeth.

If she wanted to show me around, I would go anywhere with her. My eyes caught sight of the time. 5:50 in the morning, which meant I probably only slept about three hours. I wondered if Eydis normally woke up this early.

She spit the toothpaste into the sink and wiped her mouth. "It's probably not as cold out there as it is in Hell, but you probably should wear more than your PJ's."

I didn't realize I hadn't moved. Eydis seemed like she knew exactly what she wanted to do, and I didn't want to slow her down. With a nod, I quickly changed into a pair of black pants and a worn out black shirt for the day. These were normal clothes for practicing skating. But as I watched Eydis change into her fancy looking clothes, I wondered if mine were enough.

"You will be getting better clothes. They will give you an allotment soon enough. We can go shopping on our off day. Trust me, you will love those days off. It's the only day we can leave campus." She looked at the time on the wall, then collected her bathroom things. "We have to go."

I followed her out of the bathroom, then watched as she dumped her things on her bed.

"Alright miss, no words," she said as she grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hallway. She let go as she slipped on her coat and I followed her lead. "Get ready for the best unofficial morning tour this place has."

I smiled as we walked out of the building into the dark, cold morning. It was not as cold as Hell was at this time of day, but it was still cold enough to zip up my coat a little more.

At this hour, no other soul was out. But in Hell, it was normally different. Amber Mines workers normally got up around this time and slowly made their way to the mines.

"It's quiet out here," I noted.

Eydis nodded as she pulled on my hand and lead me across the walkway. "It's probably the only time it will be silent in the day. I don't know what it was like in Hell, but in Solona, it was never this quiet in the morning. People were already getting ready for the day, talking to their neighbors. I think they started the day early so they could avoid the heat in the afternoon."

At this time, only the Amber workers were awake. We never had to worry about extreme heat in Hell. We just had to watch out of extreme cold. "Not many people were up at this time in Hell."

"Hu... interesting." She shrugged, then quickened her pace. "When I first got here, I thought everyone would wake up as early as I did, but I was wrong. I kept up the habit though because I like this quiet."